First, the Bad News ...

As I write, I am astride this really tall, you might even say “high,” horse …

By the time this issue reaches readers’ hands, there should be few who have not heard of American graduate student John Tobin and his arrest, trial and release from the clutches of the Russian system of justice on drug charges (and the strange allegations of espionage and counter-espionage). The day after Tobin’s return, his father was already putting American publishers on notices that his son had an “amazing” story to tell and that he would start writing right away.

Perhaps it is natural that such an event rises to the top of the news. “If it bleeds, it leads,” is the motto of American television news. Bad news, titillating news, shocking news—our voyeuristic culture can’t seem to get enough of it.

Well, I’ll have you know that we here at Russian Life will have none of this.

So there!

Seriously, a short while ago, a local Vermont commentator swung a leg over his high horse and began raving about “real journalism” and how the Sandra Levy or Whitewater or other scandals were unusual modern phenomena. The fact is that the American press has always been “yellow,” motivated by self-interest and as attracted to scandal as flies to, well, you get the idea. Even the Russian press—before and after the “exceptional” Soviet era—has been so distinguished.

My personal view of journalism is similar to my view on politics: it is normally an extremely messy, distasteful business, the primary redeeming social value of which is entertainment. (Basically a circus with words instead of dancing bears.) It is occasionally interrupted by inexplicable acts of selfless behavior, amazing courage, or, in the case of journalism, extremely superb and well-balanced writing.

And always, whether the journalism is good or bad, there are legions of unrecognized “heroes” slogging it out in the trenches, never to be recognized in the headlines or bylines. Why do I mention this seemingly obvious fact? Because, when everyone is reading about John Tobin and his impending book deal, I would like you to hear about Liz Buchanan, Darby Fanning, and Kate Mary Guccion. They, like Mr. Tobin, went to Russia as exchange students. But they all ended up as interns at Russian Life’s Moscow office. They have written, researched, photographed and generally done thankless tasks in the service of the magazine, hopefully picking up some useful experience in the bargain. We have felt very lucky to have them in our service.

In fact, our interns are part of a larger phenomenon: over 10,000 exchange students from Russia and the US have swapped countries for a time in the past decade. A miniscule, fractional percentage of them have ended up in jail. And who gets the book deals? Go figure.

Meanwhile, please note that, yes, there was a typo in the last edition of this column. The ad for our Annual Vodka Taste Off and Taste of Russia event was not on page 13, but 31. This time, we will make it a bit easier—the ad is on the page opposite. Please, join us!

Enjoy the issue.